Elizabeth (Betsy) Pleasants is a Doctoral Candidate in the Doctor of Public Health Program (DrPH) at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. She was born and raised in North Carolina but now lives in Oakland, California. She received her Master’s in Public Health in the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) program at UC Berkeley ...Read more >

This project will examine the effect of providing access to self-administered injectable contraception in the form of depo-subQ Provera 104 and text-based injection reminders on unintended pregnancy rates among users of depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate at Hurley Medical Center, a publicly funded safety-net hospital in Flint, Michigan. This project will compare unintended pregnancy rates among the study ...Read more >

Lily Nathan’s research project, Seismic shifts in the abortion access landscape: The abortion access worker experience, is a qualitative study of abortion access workers’ experiences and challenges. Abortion access workers–those who staff or volunteer for abortion funds and practical support organizations–constitute a critical component of the abortion access infrastructure, especially as they facilitate abortions for ...Read more >

Leah Koenig is a PhD Student in Epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a data analyst at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). She is drawn to family planning research because of the belief that the ability to actualize reproductive goals plays a central role in autonomy and equity. Prior ...Read more >

Taehyun Kim is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland Department of Health Policy and Management. Her broad research interest lies in abortion and contraceptive policy and health equity. More specifically, she aims to produce research evidence for policymaking that alleviates social and policy barriers to access to abortion and contraception. This interest was ...Read more >

Shay Gingras is currently a student at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health pursuing her Masters in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health with minors in Sexual Health and Health Equity. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies and Sociology from Macalester College. She is currently a Senior Research Coordinator with ...Read more >

Megan (she/her) received her MD and MPH from George Washington University and is a current OB/GYN resident at The Oregon Health and Science University. Her interests include reproductive health policy, adolescent sexual health, and healthcare disparities. Prior to starting medical school, she worked internationally on a variety of maternal and reproductive healthcare access projects. While ...Read more >

Across the globe, intersecting social, economic, political, legal, and geographic factors work to restrict the right to abortion, forcing women and pregnant people to travel across state and country lines to access needed healthcare services. For decades, such forced abortion travel has occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border, with recent legislative changes targeting abortion access in ...Read more >

Georgia, in addition to having one of the highest maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the country, heavily regulates abortion. Current data support an association between restricted access to safe and legal abortion and higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality, with already vulnerable populations experiencing a disparate burden. Researchers have speculated that people with ...Read more >

The Kentucky Health Justice Network (KHJN) and local researchers will explore the experiences and pregnancy outcomes of Kentucky abortion fund clients who experience significant economic barriers to abortion. Kentucky is among the most abortion-hostile states, with many existing restrictions on care and just two abortion facilities; Kentucky also has multiple abortion bans, any of which ...Read more >